http://www.mbcanalspecials.co.uk/whip.htm

This is exactly how we fish on the River Tyne for weights up to 60lb. Most of the lads doing big weights fish large rugby ball type floats, Drennan Tipos, or a Jean Desque model between 2 and 5 gram depending on flow and depth. The alternative is to go lighter with something like the old Image pole sticks.

if using a bulk/olivette then a float like the drennan carbo from a gram up is right, for fishing strung out shotting then a float like the slim old series 10 ignisti was ideal these floats went up to a gram and were perfect for the thames and whip, in fact I am dusting my whip down as Rob Pottinger informed me that he had 27lb of dace like herrings and roach to 12oz from a local stretch of river so the old float range will be dusted down and put into good use.More modern patterns like the Drennan tipo and even better is the reverse body up Drennan Trio which you can hold back on, same as tipo but body is reversed. I am sure that the Mick Bassett float shown is a canal whip float.

Not been for a couple of years but I’ve had some really nice double-figure bags of dace whip fishing on the Warks Avon at Barford so i assume this is where you are fishing or somewhere v similar. If so, it’s narrow, fast and shallow and Ive caught best with two rigs fished on 4m to 7m whips. The first is a standard 0.5g to 1g bodied float with an olivette 18in from hook and a couple of No9 droppers (positive shotting in fast flow). The other is a balsa-topped ‘pole stick’ taking 4×14 to 4×16 shotted just like a stick float with strung out No8s tapering down to No9s and perhaps No10s. This second rig fishes through the water better and makes much less of a clunk when you strike.

I have several whips of different makes and found a short tip section with No6 or No8 elastic is better than a flick tip as the dace are quite big and there is always the chance of a chub or big perch muscling in at Barford. I suppose you could use longer lengths but this will affect the weight of the whip and also stop you swinging fish to hand so easily.

The hardest part is setting the hook without bumping the fish so spend a long time playing with diff patterns. I use Sensas 3405 black nickels if its hard but would use something like a Drennan Carbon Maggot or Kamasan B560 if I needed something less springy. Use a B520 if you prefer a straighter point. Don’t hesitate to pinch the barb down to leave just a bump as this can really help with hooking too.

Finally, you could always try a small bottom end only waggler on the whip at Barford. I’ve seen some of the Shakespeare lads catch well with these and you’ll get a nice clean strike. Its especially good fishing 2-4ft deep.

You could try a few balls of groundbait but loose feeding is generally best on that river, so it would be casters, maggots and hemp for me. Hope that helps!

For a smoother shallow pegs up to 5 foot or so I like a wire-stem peacock dibber …. taking 3 to 6 no.8 shot.
Not really enough weight to work with beyond 5m of whip though.

As Endpeg says, ground bait doesn’t really work at Barford.
Personally – I prefer a stick rod to a whip on the vast majority of the pegs there anyway.
It’s not like the Tyne or Wye, most of the fish are 1 to 3 oz, and 15lb is a really good weight for all dace. For me it’s more important to keep them feeding than to hustle the fish out quickly. Of course, a whip does help to get them away from the pike quickly!

There are a lot of small roach in the river this year, so you’ll catch those too if there’s some colour in.